Bow sight



Dec. 19, 1950 T, BRADLEY 2,534,946

BOW SIGHT Filed Sept. 18, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Gene I Bradley Dec. 19, 1950 e. T. BRADLEY 120w SIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1947 Fig. 9. 79

I ll ventor Gene 7: Bradley A ttornq s Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOW SIGHT Gene T. Bradley, Maywood, Calif.

Application September 18, 1947, Serial No. 774,741

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in sights for archery bows and more particularly to a device of this character including front and rear sighting elements together with means for detachably mounting the same in position at one side of a bow.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a front sight in the form of a pair of rotatably adjusted prisms arranged upon a rotation of one relative to the other to adjust the sight accurately to any required elevation and windage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bow sight including front and rear sighting elements together with a mirror mounted in the sighting path and arranged to reflect the position of an arrow held to the bow.

A still further object is to provide a mirror for use in conjunction with front and rear sighting elements for a bow whereby the check draw or releasing position of the arrow is indicated without necessitating the archer shifting his eyes from the sight to the arrow and thus enable the archer to constantly focus his eyes on the target.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bow sight including front and rear sighting elements adjustable for setting the sights in accordance with variations in the anchorage of 6 different archers, that is, the position of the tion, which is efficient and reliable in operation,

relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the sight shown attached to a bow.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the barrel of the sight.

Figures 3, 4. and 5 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on the lines 3-3, 4-4 and 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a rear elevational view of the sight, showing the arrow reflected by the mirror.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the mounting for the sight.

Figure 8 is a front elevational view of the mounting with parts shown in section, and

Figure 9 is a side elevational view of a modified barrel construction with parts shown in section.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and first with respect to the form of invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive, the numeral 5 designates a barrel having a front end 6 of reduced diameter and on which a head I is rotatable. The rear end of the head is provided with a pair of internal annular grooves 8 and the reduced end 5 is formed with resilient circumferentially arranged fingers 9 having an external annular rib l0 seated in the rearmost groove 8 to lock the head on the barrel.

A rear prism holding sleeve H is rotatably mounted in the head and is formed at its rear end with resilient circumferentially arranged fingers 12 having an external annular rib l3 seated in the forward groove 8. A rear prism I4 is suitably secured in the holder II and is provided on its rear flat face with a front sighting element in the form of a dot l5. The front end of the holder H is formed with external gear teeth I 6 for a purpose more fully hereinafter deneck 22 having an internal annular groove 23 in .which an external annular rib 24 is seated and formed on circumferentially arranged resilient fingers 25 at the rear end of a front prism hold- .ing sleeve 26 having a front prism 21 suitably secured therein.

An internal ring gear 28 is suitably secured in cap 2| and pinions 29 and 30 mesh respectively with the gear 28 and gear it, the pinion having a pressed fit with each other or otherwise suitably secured together for uniform rotation. The pinions are journalled on a pin 3! carried by the head i and the pinions are of different ratio to correspond with the diiference in ratio of gears l6 and 28 to rotate the front and rear prism holders and prisms uniformly in opposite annular movement.

The rear end of head I is provided with graduations 32 coacting with a zero setting 33 on the barrel and the rear end of cap 2! is likewise provided with graduations 34 coacting with a zero setting 35 on the flange ll of the head;

A rear lens cap 36 is rotatably inserted in the rear end of the barrel and is formed with circumferentially arranged resilient fingers 3? having an external annular rib 38 seated in an internal annular groove 39 in the barrel. A lens 40 is suitably held in cap 35 and is provided on its inner face with a pair of rear sighting elements 4| in the form of radially disposed marks aligned with each other and with their inner ends spaced from each other fo aligning the front sighting element l5 therebetween as shown in Figure 6.

The lower portion of barrel 5 is formed with an opening 42 at a point immediately forwardly of lens holder 35 and in which a mirror bracket 43 is secured by a screw 44. The rear end of the mirror bracket is inclined forwardly toward its bottom and against which is suitably secured a mirror 45 with its upper edge in the horizontal plane of the sighting elements I5 and 4|, the mirror being exposed in the lower half of the barrel when sighting therethrough to reflect the image of an object below the opening in the barrel.

The barrel is secured in position at one side of a bow 48 by means of a mounting designated generally at 4'? and which comprises an attaching plate 48 secured to the front edge of the bow. An apertured ear 59 projects horizontally forwardly of plate 58 and in which vertical horizontally rotatable bracket 59 is secured by a nut 55. The bracket 59 includes an upstanding apertured plate 52 at the lower portion of which is an annular flange 53 having graduations 54 thereon coacting with a zero setting 55 on the front edge of ear 4-9.

A horizontal bracket 55 is vertically rotatable in plate 52 and secured in adjusted position by a nut 51. The bracket 56 also includes an apertured plate 58 extending outwardly at one side of the bow 45 and in which the barrel 5 secured by a locking pin 59 carried by the plate 58 and a screw 60 engaging the rea end of the pin and forcing the pin against the barrel.

The bracket 56 further includes an annular flange 6| having graduations 62 coacting with a zero mark 63 on the upper edge of plate 52.

The barrel 5 is secured to the how by the mounting in a position above an arrow 54 held against the bow so that the tip of the arrow is reflected in the mirror 45.

By rotating the cap 2! the prisms are rotated oppositely and an object or target sighted through the barrel appears to travel on a straight line. Therefore, by the use of the gearing mechanism as described, a single movement will rotate both prisms and with the graduations 34 of the front prism holder calibrated to represent degrees, the device may be used for measuring angles.

Also, by turning the head i the entire head section, including the front and rear prisms, may be bodily rotated about a horizontal axis any desired number of degree as indicated by the graduations 32.

In the operation of the device, the attaching plate 48 and brackets 50 and 55 carried thereby are secured in vertical position at the front edge of the bow 46 and the barrel 5 is clamped in the plate 58. The plate 58 may be secured in outwardly adjusted position at either side of the bow by reversing the bracket 58 on the bracket 59 to position the sight for either right or left hand archers.

The arrow 84 may be properly aimed by aligning between the front sighting element i5 and the rear sighting element 4| as shown in Figure 6 and the tip of the arrow 64 is reflected in the mirror 45 to indicate the proper draw length of the archer without taking his eyes from the sight by aligning one of the marks 64a at the tip of the arrow with the upper edge of the mirror in the manner as indicated in Figure 6 of the drawings.

In summarizing, the problems of an archer are:

1. In long range shooting, the bow must be elevated and the arrow arched through the air in order to obtain the necessary trajectory to carry to the target. In doing so, the bow hand, wrist or arm hides the target from view.

Solution A single prism will rotate an image of the target only on an established radius governed by the angle of the prism. However, two prisms of the same angle, arranged as indicated, double the radius of deflection and by tiuning one prism clockwise and the other counter-clockwise, any point within the circle may be used.

On existing types of sights, such as the peep sight or the single fixed prism with cross-work thereon, he finds this comparable to a rifle with 1e rear sight removed. He can draw a perfect bead on the target andyet his anchorage can vary sufiiciently to make him miss the target completely.

Solution If the dot i5 on prism i4 aligns in the space between the rear sights 4|, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, his anchorage must be the same on every shot.

8. Even though his alignment may be perfect, if his draw-length is not the same every time, or if his arrow does not rest against the side of the bow each time, his shot will still go wild. He cant look through his sight and down at the arrow at the same time.

Solution As shown in Figure 6, the top edge of mirror 45 is directly on the line of vision and reflects a view from directly above the arrow tip and therefore is a more accurate check than looking directly along the arrow at the tip because he is looking almost on a fiat plane along the top surface of the arrow shaft whereby it is difilcult to judge with a high degree of accuracy whether his draw-length varies a fraction of an inch. Also, if his arrow should not be touching the side of the bow, it will be readily discernible in the mirror.

As shown in Figures 1 and 6, the circumfer ential marks 54a on the tip of the arrow can be used as the draw-check for aligning with the upper edge of the mirror. In case neither of these points appear at the upper edge of the mirror when the archer has pulled the arrow to his proper draw-length, the barrel 5 should be adjusted longitudinally in the bracket 56 until a suitable point on the arrow appears at the top of the mirror.

In Figure 9, I have illustrated a modified sight construction which comprises a barrel 65 having resilient fingers 56 provided with an annular rib 65a at its front end and an annular shoulder 87 spaced rearwardly therefrom and providing a stop for the rear edge of a front prism holder or sleeve 68 rotatably mounted on the front end of the barrel and having the front prism -69 positioned therein. The prism holder 68 is provided with an internal annular groove receiving the rib 66 to hold the prism holder 68 on the barrel.

The outer surface of the prism holder 68 is knurled as at H and rearwardly of which is marked a scale 12 coanting with zero setting 13 on the shoulder 61.

A tubular rear prism holder 14 is rotatably mounted in the barrel rearwardly of the prism 69 in which is secured the rear prism I5. The rear edge of the prism holder 14 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 16 to form resilient fingers 11 having an external annular rib I8 seated in an internal annular groove 19 in the barrel to hold the prism holder against longitudinal movement.

The barrel is formed with a window opening 80 behind which the prism holder 14 carries a scale 8! also coacting with a zero setting 82 and rearwardly of the scale 8| the prism holder M is knurled as at 83 exposed in openings 84 in the barrel to enable finger gripping engagement with said knurled portion.

The lens 85 at the rear of the sight is secured in a sleeve 86 having its forward portion rotatably mounted in the barrel and likewise split lonigtudinally as at 81 to form a plurality of resilient fingers 88 having an external annular rib 89 seated in an internal groove 90 in the barrel. The rear end of the sleeve 86 projects outwardly of the barrel and is knurled as at 9| to provide a finger grip.

The barrel is also provided with the mirror 92 to reflect the position of the arrow and the barrel is secured to the bow by an attaching bracket as heretofore described.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a bow sight, a barrel having front and rear ends and a bottom opening, a rear end sighting element carried by said barrel, a pair of front and rear prisms, the rear prism having a sighting element thereon, a mounting for holding said prisms to the front end of the barrel with said prisms superposed in the line of sight transversely thereof comprising a head on said barrel. a holder for the rear prism rotatable in said head. a cap rotatable on the head with the front prism fixed therein, means enclosed by said head and cap operative by rotation of said cap to rotate said prisms equally and in opposite directions, whereby to deflect an image of a target through an angle equal to the combined angles of the prisms with the image appearing to travel in a straight line when viewed through the rear sighting element, said mounting being rotatable as a unit relative to said barrel to cause the image to travel in vertical and horizontal lines, selectively, under rotation of the front prism relative to the rear prism, 21. mirror mounted in said barrel with an edge in alinement with said sights to provide an added sighting element and being exposed through said opening to reflect the position of an arrow held to said how, means for adjusting the mirror angularly with respect to the longitudinal axis of the sights, and means for attaching the barrel to a bow.

GENE T. BRADLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,093,639 MacDougall Apr. 21, 1914 1,381,453 Courmettes et al. June 14, 1921 1,696,508 Thorburn Dec. 25, 1928 1,961,517 Klopsteg June 5, 1934 1,982,489 Wilcox Nov. 27, 1934 2,163,503 Tate June 20, 1939 2,351,103 Brown June 14, 1944 2,458,831 Cady Jan. 11, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,881 Great Britain of 1912 

